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Summary

A history of the French schools that pioneered female education in Ottoman Iraq’s Jewish communities.

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Alliance Israélite Universelle (AIU), a Paris-based Jewish organization, founded dozens of primary schools throughout the Middle East. Many were the first formal educational institutions for local Jewish children. In addition to providing secular education, the schools attempted to change local customs and “regenerate” or “uplift” communities. Educational Oases in the Desert explores the largely forgotten history of the AIU’s schools for girls in Ottoman Iraq. Drawing on extensive archival research, Jonathan Sciarcon argues that teachers viewed female education through a gendered lens linked to their understanding of an ideal modern society. As the primary educators of children, women were seen as society’s key agents of socialization. The AIU thus concluded that its boys’ schools would never succeed in creating polished, westernized men so long as women remained uneducated, leading to the creation of schools for girls. Sciarcon shows how headmistresses acted not just as educators but also as models of modernity, trying to impart new moral and aesthetic norms onto students.

“Sciarcon’s study is a significant contribution to Jewish women’s history of Iraq not only in terms of educational aspects, but also with regards to the struggles of individual female directors to persuade local parents about the importance of female schooling within an adverse social environment.” — Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth

“The book is well-written … [Sciarcon’s] detailed and concentrated account adds a valuable piece to the history of Jewish women in this period.” — Association of Jewish Libraries Reviews

“While the pedagogical empire created by the AIU has received broad treatment before, this book narrows its focus to a specific time period and locale, allowing for a more nuanced look at the interplay between girls’ schools, issues such as gender and education, and concepts of Westernization, cultural transplants, and agents of change.” — H-Net Reviews (H-Judaic)

“In addition to immersing the reader in the fascinating world of turn-of-the-century Ottoman Iraq, this book contributes to the growing body of scholarship about Jewish girls’ education, the AIU, and female education in the Ottoman Empire during this period.” — Reading Religion

Jonathan Sciarcon is Assistant Professor of History and Judaic Studies at the University of Denver.

Table of Contents

List of Tables
Acknowledgments
Introduction

1. Pioneering Female Jewish Education: The AIU in Baghdad, 1864–1895

2. From Danon to Sutton: The Baghdad Girls’ School, 1896–1899

3. Making Adjustments: Oro Sémach’s Tenure in Baghdad, 1899–1904

4. From the Baghdad Girls’ School to the Laura Kadoorie School for Girls, 1905–1915